New Beginning
by Unique Art
Summary: -Friendship one-shot- It's New Year's Eve , and Malik is stuck at his sister's party. He figures it will be a long, dull night. Then, he bumps into an oddly familiar teen, and they talk for a long time. His night has just gotten a little more interesting.


You probably thought I only wrote Bakura and Ryou stories now, huh? Well, I still have a place in my heart for Malik, Joey, and the Kaiba brothers. I've had this idea in my head since Christmas, but only finished it today. This story is new and pretty unique in my opinion. I've never read any Mailk and Mokuba interaction. I enjoyed this, actually! It was a nice break from white-haired angst. (Though I do love that!) And, this is another new adventure. This is after the show is over, about four years in the future. I guess Malik is about nineteen or so. He grew up!

This is in Malik's POV, which is pretty new to me. He (or Mokuba, I guess) might be OOC, though I enjoy this characterization. Whatever you think! And, at the end, there is implied trustshipping. OMG, gasp! She _actually _put a shipping in her fics! I'm not really a shipper of it, so it's really subtle. It was more for plot, and I thought it would add a bit of humor. Don't turn back now because of it! Ha...

Enjoy ;D

**DISCLAIMER:**I own nothing besides my plot, which isn't amazingly grand...

**-0-0-0-0-**

A stupid New Year's Eve party.

That's all I expected from this night, especially when Ishizu said she invited her close friends. And _only _her close friends. And let me tell you, her friends are a bunch of freaky old people who happen to know something about history. Or, rather, _think _they know something about history. They're a bunch of whack-jobs, if you ask me.

They're totally unlike me.

My friends are so much more entertaining! I mean, Bakura would surely liven up the night. But for some odd reason, my sister didn't want him to come. I mean, truly, I could _never _see why she would worry! He is always so _polite, _and _charming, _and would never try to _kill _everyone or anything...

...Can't you people tell sarcasm? Dear Ra!

Anyway, it was going to be held in the new part of the Egyptian exhibit, the one that featured Pharaoh Atem and all of his glory. Finally, after four years, she finished it to her liking. She is such a little perfectionist! Something I would know nothing about, of course.

She planned on opening the main part of the exhibit at midnight, just as the new year came. I know, exciting, huh?

Yeah, I didn't foresee this night to be interesting in the least. Then again, I'm no fortune-teller.

**-0-0-0-0-**

It was almost ten, and I was ready to kill myself. I couldn't stand two more hours of this! This place was as quiet as a tomb - no pun intended - except for the occasional bad joke or fake, polite laugh. I stayed off by myself in a corner of the room, sitting on one of the many benches. A whole, descriptive plaque was above me about the Millennium Items, which I found almost ironic. It was fancy and such, though hardly near the truth.

Just like the rest of the whole exhibit.

I was ignoring people as they ignored me. It worked quite well, too, until I heard a pleasant chuckle from beside me.

"You look like you're having bunches of fun."

I turned my head slightly to the side to see a smiling teenager looking directly at me. He was probably about fifteen, I guessed, though he might have been a little bit older. The kid had dark gray eyes that had a certain look to them, one I can't really explain. They just had an interesting spark to them, like he was just full of life. His hair was a dark, midnight shade and came an inch or so below his chin, about the length of mine now. It looked naturally defiant and seemed to fall in his eyes. He was only a mere two inches shorter than me, and rather thin. His T-shirt and jeans were a little baggy on him, I noticed. His smile was as sincere as it was contagious. I smiled back at him.

"Oh, just loads. This is exactly how I want to spend the holiday!" I rolled my violet eyes, one of the only things that hadn't changed about my appearance. My tan had faded quite a bit, and my nearly golden hair had become a softer shade. I gained some more muscle as well, though I was still pretty thin. I wore full shirts now, and grown more comfortable in jeans. Even my personality changed, I think. I'm not sure what exactly, but I feel it did.

"Why are you here then?" he asked curiously, sitting down beside me - uninvited, I noted.

I shrugged. "Same as you, I guess. Unless you're professor or something and look freakishly young for your age."

He snorted, and let a smile tug at his lips. "Naw, I mostly came here for my brother. He's been going out with one of the big shots here, and wanted me to see her. So far I've avoided it."

"That's the smartest thing you could've done."

He nodded in agreement, and left us both is a comfortable silence. I glanced over at his face, and felt a stab of recognition. I guess I felt like I knew him, or had at least seen him before. When I was about to ask him something, he asked _me _a question.

"Do you play Duel Monsters?"

I didn't do well hiding my surprise, or uncomfort. How was I supposed to tell this kid that the game had helped me in killing, torturing, and enslaving various people? "Well, I did, once. I guess I just…lost my passion for it." I thought I did well with that! "Do you?"

His gaze never left mine, like he was searching my soul through my eyes. "Yeah. Not so much any more, but I used to be obsessed with it!" A small laugh escaped him. "No, after a while, I lost my passion, like you did."

This kid seemed to know so much of the world despite his young age.

"What do ya do now?" I asked softly, as if it were meant as a thought.

"I'm into computers. Like, programs and stuff." Then, like he always seemed to, he turned my question back around to me. "What do you do now, then?"

"Mechanics. I work on motorcycles mostly, but I can do cars." I smirked, thinking of my own ride. "Yeah, that takes up a lot of time. And looking at colleges. I'm not sure what I'm gonna do yet."

He seemed truly interested in what I said. It was actually odd for me. Everyone seemed to just tolerate me, not value my opinion. This stranger gave me more respect than my sister!

It made me uncomfortable, so I decide to let him talk. "Don't you have any friends you hang out with?" It wasn't meant to come out so blunt, and I hoped he wasn't offended.

He didn't seem to be. "Yeah, but this meant a lot to my brother…" He let his sentence die. "Why aren't you at a party with all of your friends?"

A smile tugged at my lips. "My _two _friends aren't exactly partying tonight. They're stuck with their dad, and didn't know how to get away." I laughed, think of the two white-haired males. "And this was my sister's idea. She said she wanted to meet her close friend, and I haven't seen her all night."

He smiled slyly. "And you're upset?"

"No."

The teenager laughed lightly, in his carefree way. Suddenly, he glanced at his watch. "Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise. "It's already after eleven. We've been talking for, like, over an hour."

"Time flies..." I murmured softly. The brunette nodded silently in agreement. Suddenly, an odd question occurred to me. From where I'm not sure, but I felt the need to ask it. I guess I didn't think he'd judge me like nearly everyone else I met. "Did you ever do something you've regretted? Not something small, like a nasty comment, but...something big? Something you can't take back?"

He let his eyes wander off, distant from this time and place. We sat there for a countless minutes, just thinking our own thoughts. "Yes." His eyes focused on mine. "I have." In his whisper I could feel his pain, hidden behind his smile. He wasn't going to tell me his deed; he didn't have to. He understood my question, even if I didn't.

"Well," he began, "I have to go find my brother. I'll catch up with ya later, Malik."

As I saw him go, I felt an unexplainable feeling in the back of my mind. A detail just waiting to be recognized..."Wait!" I called suddenly. He stopped in his tracks and turned around smiling. "I didn't tell you my name."

His smile grew. "You didn't have to. I knew."

I stood there, studying him intently. His gray eyes stared back at me, and an impish grin was planted on his face. Suddenly, I realized I _had _met him before. He had given me that same look quite a few years ago. A soft, unbelieving laugh escaped me as I stood there in shock. "Mokuba. Mokuba Kaiba!"

He came walking back, a grin still on his face. "Took ya long enough, Ishtar."

"You-you grew," I replied lamely, still hardly processing who stood before me. That bright, tall teenager used to be the short, obedient little brother of Seto Kaiba's. _I nearly killed him, _I thought suddenly. I asked slowly, "How did you know it was me?"

"You...looked familiar, with your eyes and all. But when I actually realized it was you was when you started talking about your motorcycle. It all made sense to me." He paused. "But you sure changed too."

This made me chuckle. "For the better, I can only hope."

He gave a curt nod. "Well, it's almost midnight. Wanna go find our siblings?" Then, like a huge wave of realization, something occurred to me. I started laughing, and then cracking up, and finally in hysterics. "What's so funny?" he asked quizzically.

"How much you wanna bet I know who your brother's dating?" I managed to get out in between giggles.

A look of confusion and then shock filled his eyes. He started, "You don't think..." but didn't finish the sentence because he was nearly on the ground in laughter. After a few minutes we had finally caught our grip, and were standing upright again.

"I would have never guessed," he giggled. I couldn't answer in fear of bursting with laughs. He looked at his watch and told me, "We have about five minutes."

"We should hurry up, then, little bro."

"Bro..." he mumbled, then cracked a grin himself. "Yeah, we should." And off we went.

**-0-0-0-0-**

Like I said, my magical prediction was way off. That New Year's Eve had been a lot more interesting than I even imagined. Now that I think about it, actually, I believe it was the best I have ever had.

_Happy New Year, everyone!_

**-0-0-0-0-**

Have a nice holiday, guys!

Unique Art


End file.
